


Man of His Word

by grovestep



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Bittersweet, Flashbacks, Gen, Pre-Team Skull Guzma, Self-Reflection, Younger Guzma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 05:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20222392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grovestep/pseuds/grovestep
Summary: Guzma was always a man of his word.ORHow Guzma ended up a gang leader.Written for the PKMN Villains Zine





	Man of His Word

She was at it again. 

Guzma rested his chin on the palm of his hand as he watched Lusamine pace back and forth. She muttered about Ultra Beasts and Nihilego, filling the silence between them with her litany. Golisopod hovered behind him, close enough to touch. It let out a series of clicking sounds, ones Guzma associated with discomfort. He rested a hand on one of Golisopod’s arms. 

Lusamine wasn’t always this way. If she had been, Guzma would have high-tailed it a long time ago. When they first met, she was sticky sweet. She promised him grandeur and fame and fortune. They were in this together, she promised. He would reap the benefits of their work together. Guzma swore he would be by her side no matter what. He was a man of his word. 

Now he wondered how much trouble that particular trait would get him into. 

He excused himself, but Lusamine paid him no mind. She continued to pace and mumble under her breath. Guzma lead Golisopod outside to the balcony. He sat down and slipped his legs through the holes in the railing, letting them dangle in the night air. He looked out over the estate. Golisopod sat behind him and rested its insectoid head on top of Guzma’s. He let out a chuckle. The Pokémon loved to be close to him, even as a timid Wimpod. It would sit atop his head and cower into his hair whenever it sensed a threat. Now it was larger than he was and still craved that proximity to its trainer. 

“See that, Golisopod?” Guzma asked, pointing out into the darkness. Below them, Team Skull grunts milled about. He could just make out two of them getting roughed up by some trainer. He let out a hefty sigh. “Looks like we have company.” 

Golisopod let out another clicking sound. Guzma nodded. It was tired of fighting, too. This wasn’t Guzma’s battle anymore. It wasn’t even Team Skull’s. It was Lusamine’s. They were just pawns in her plot, but he was a man of his word. He would see it through, lest he want it to weigh on his conscious for the rest of his life. 

“Remember the old days, Golisopod? Right after you evolved?” 

Golisopod gave a series of happy, affirmative clicks. 

“Whose idea was it to start a gang? Yours?” Guzma laughed and scrubbed a hand over his face. Golisopod prodded him in the side with one arm. Guzma swatted it away with another laugh. “I know, I know. It was mine. Man, what was I thinking?”

—

Guzma was a teenager. All brains and no brawn. He knew how to outsmart and out-talk anyone who messed with him, but had no muscle to back it up. Wimpod cowered in his hair when some punk heckled him. He was a scrawny nerd, easy pickings for the tougher guys on the block. Until Wimpod evolved. 

Guzma trained hard with his Pokémon. He ran laps with it, he used his own body as a punching bag for Wimpod’s attacks. He promised he would grow alongside Wimpod, for both of their benefit. Wimpod was inspired by the fire it saw in Guzma. It trained day in and day out. Little by little, it stopped hiding in Guzma’s hair. It stood its’ ground when Guzma was threatened, chasing off bullies at unmatched speed. 

Guzma sat on the beach, looking out at the waves. Wimpod skittered around the sand and clicked in elation. He loved it by the ocean. He sat for hours on the sand, watching the tide roll in. One of the bullies from his class approached from behind. Wimpod noticed him first. It came to a halt, wiggling its antennae in Guzma’s to alert him. Before Guzma could turn around, the bully pushed him to the ground. His face pressed into the sand as the other boy loomed over him. He closed his eyes and prepared for a beating. 

The bully made a strangled noise. Guzma dared to crack open his eye. A different, taller shadow loomed over him. It had six arms and towering antennae. It clicked menacingly at the bully that was sprayed across the ground. 

“W-Wimpod?” Guzma stammered. 

The Pokémon picked Guzma up and put him over its shoulder. It leered over the bully one more time before departing down the beach. Guzma watched the bully run in the opposite direction, scared for his life. Golisopod’s feet stomped methodically across the sand. Guzma grinned. 

“You could have evolved a little sooner, you know,” he said with a laugh. Golisopod clicked in response. Guzma rolled his eyes. “Yea, well you didn’t give me a chance to take him on on my own. C’mon, put me down.”

Golisopod gently placed Guzma on the ground. He stared up at his Pokémon and stroked his chin in thought. Golisopod watched its trainer patiently as he mused.He ran a hand over the hard plating of Golisopod’s shell. He hummed under his breath.   
“What do you think about taking on the island challenge, buddy?” Guzma asked. Golisopod picked Guzma up by the shoulders and crushed him to his chest. He laughed and tossed up his hands, placing them against his Pokémon’s carapace. The Pokémon clicked and hissed enthusiastically. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Guzma said. 

—

Guzma had never felt more powerful.

He and Golisopod made the perfect team. They trust one another whole heartedly. The island challenge had been a piece of cake. They fought their way through every kahuna. Guzma wouldn’t allow himself to be intimidated. He was past that. He was no longer Guzma, the scrawny know-it-all. He was Guzma the powerful. Guzma the boss. He wouldn’t let anyone stand between him and what he wanted.

And he wanted more power. 

He fiddled with the Z-ring around his wrist. The green crystal of Buginium Z glinted back at him. Golisopod lingered nearby, munching on whatever debris it could find. A nasty habit it still held from when it was a Wimpod. When Guzma looked up, it waddled over to him expectantly. He watched his Pokémon twitch its antennae at him. It knew whenever Guzma messed with his Z-ring, he was thinking about a battle. 

“You know me too well, buddy,” Guzma said as he scratched Golisopod on the top of its head. “I’m just thinking. I don’t just want to be an island challenger. You know who really has power? A kahuna.”

Golisopod let out a disgruntled click.

“Yea, yea. You don’t have to remind me. They’d never let me be a kahuna,” Guzma said with a sigh. He ran his hand through his hair. “I could be a captain, though.”

\--

“Why’d you let me go through with that idea, huh?” Guzma asked. He leaned his head back and tilted his chin up to look at Golisopod upside down. The bug Pokémon simply chirped in response. “That’s how we ended up over these buncha’ losers.” 

The two stared out across the courtyard as the trainer battled her way through the grunts. Guzma wondered absent-mindedly if he should alert Lusamine. He sighed and leaned back against Golisopod. She was too preoccupied with Ultra Beasts to care. He ran his fingers across his Z-ring. His Pokémon shifted in anticipation.

“Do you think we deserve this, buddy?” he asked, clicking off the bracelet. He ran his thumb across the Buginium Z. The gem was cracked and worn; not nearly as shiny and pristine as when they had first won it. He could change it out for any of the Buginium Zs they had hoarded away, but something kept him from replacing it. He held it against his chest and sighed. Golisopod used one of its arms to take the bracelet from Guzma. It carefully placed the Z-ring back around his wrist. The bracelet closed with a decisive click. 

“Yea, you’re right,” Guzma said. He got to his feet and Golisopod followed. “We do. We’re the strongest trainer and Pokémon alive, and we better not forget it. If we forget, who is gonna remind everyone else, right?” 

Golisopod clicked in affirmation and followed Guzma inside. 

_Besides,_ Guzma thought with a grin. _It’s my job to beat this trainer, and mine alone._

He was a man of his word, after all.


End file.
